The Bonanni, U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,058, granted Apr. 4, 1989, incorporated herein by reference, describes an optical fiber connector comprising a pair of support members on opposite sides of an array of parallel optical fibers. The support members are made of monocrystalline silicon into which matching V-grooves have been formed by photolithographic masking and etching. The connector contains a pair of alignment pins which allows it to be joined to another identical connector to splice together two arrays of optical fibers, i.e., to abut the optical fibers with sufficient precision to allow optical energy to flow relatively unimpeded through the interconnection. The Bonanni device is successful because of the great precision with which V-grooves can be defined in monocrystalline silicon.
The copending application of Roll et al., Ser. No. 08/186,935, filed Jan. 27, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,174, incorporated herein by reference, describes how optical fiber connectors of the type described in the Bonanni patent can be mass-produced from plastic. The Roll et al. process uses the V-grooves etched in monocrystalline silicon to form a die portion, or insert, from which individual support members of the connector can be made by plastic injection molding. Making connector support members as described in the Roll et al. application not only avoids the need for individually masking and etching each support member, but it also allows for the provision of alignment and latching features, which cannot practically be provided in monocrystalline elements. These features in turn permit robotic handling of the support members so that pairs of support members can automatically be fitted on opposite sides of an array of optical fibers.
In both the Bonanni and Roll et al. optical fiber connectors, alignment pins must be held on opposite sides of each connector by a separate spring member, typically a spring clip surrounding the connector, which forces the alignment pins against reference surfaces on opposite sides of the connector. It would be desirable to reduce further the expense and complexity of optical fiber connectors and the convenience with which they can be mass-produced; specifically, it would be desirable to avoid the need for a separate spring clip.